Louis Dodds says his eight years at Port Vale will count for nothing as he tries to earn a place in Neil Aspin's side.

The 31 year old has come home to Vale Park after the Valiants agreed a season-long loan deal with Chesterfield for him.

Dodds is thrilled to be back at a club where he played 332 games before his departure on a free transfer to Shrewsbury in 2016, but says he must prove himself all over again to be a regular in a Valiants shirt.

He told The Sentinel: "I am starting with a clean slate again. It is not like I will be going there saying, 'remember me I have played all these games, I have got to play'.

"I have to earn my right. It is new management, new fans will have come in and new players, so I have to get used to everything again. It is going to be a big challenge but one I can't wait to get my teeth stuck into."

Vale inquired about Dodds in January but that didn't go as far as a firm offer and the player instead moved to Chesterfield.

Now he is delighted to be back at Vale Park after the clubs agreed the loan.

He said: "Honestly, I couldn't be happier. It is the only club I wanted to come back to. It has been in the pipeline for ten days or so and it is nice to get it finally over the line. I am absolutely thrilled."

Read More

He scored ten goals in his first season at Shrewsbury, but he couldn't earn a regular place in their side last season before switching to Chesterfield in January.

Louis Dodds in action for Port Vale at Crawley (Image: The Sentinel)

He said: "The first year I played the majority of weeks and was top scorer so was happy with that. In the second season I didn't play anywhere near as much, but the team was absolutely flying. I don't think they have had a season like that for many years.

Read More

He says he has also appreciated the messages of support he has received since his move back to Vale was announced.

He added: "It's been really nice, people on Twitter have been saying 'welcome home' and so on. Obviously I get a few not so nice but I will take that in the grand scheme of things, the majority are nice.